Tag: Mazda MX-5 Miata

Maurice and I have been having a text exchange all morning, spurred by this post about this car:

From autoevolution.com a picture of a Mazda MX-5 Miata.

Maurice asked me what I thought was more important in a daily driver, power or handling. Not copping out, I replied that I believe it’s a great balance of styling, engineering and comfort that makes a great car. The reason I loathe the look of cars that are “slammed” to the ground and have giant wheels is because the look is totally out of balance. The C2 Corvette looked great with 15-inch wheels; why does anyone think they need 22-inch wheels to look better? Yes, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but a lot of custom cars make my eyes hurt.

When I worked in baseball I did a study of the records of teams that had either: A) led their league in runs scored AND allowed the most or, B) allowed the fewest runs but also scored the fewest. Granting that ballpark effects play a role in such extreme teams, what was the aggregate win-loss records of the two groups? While I don’t know if this is still true, at the time of the study—about 25 years ago—the aggregate win-loss records of both groups was a shade BELOW .500. These teams represent the extreme in imbalance and were not successful. (So much for baseball is 90% pitching and defense.)

A balanced approach to almost everything is usually optimal. Eat, but not too much. Exercise, but don’t overdo it. Sleep, but not too much or too little. The same goes for cars. That’s why I actually prefer the small-block C2 Corvettes because in my opinion the big-block (available beginning in 1965) ruins the weight and handling balance of the car.

What do you think makes a great car?

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A total shift…I want to end with a remark by Milton Friedman:

“A society that puts equality—in the sense of equality of outcome [emphasis mine]—ahead of freedom will end up with neither equality nor freedom. The use of force to achieve equality will destroy freedom. On the other hand, a society that puts freedom first will, as a happy by-product, end up with both greater freedom and greater equality.”

In my opinion, equality of outcome is impossible and is an insane policy goal. A country will chase its tail forever.

From Automobile Magazine an article about how Mazda is boosting the horsepower on the MX-5 Miata.

From autoevolution.com a picture of the MX-5 Miata. I have always thought that these cars were handsome and nimble, but underpowered. I’m not sure 181 HP (up from 155) is enough, but the increase should make the car even more fun to drive. Yes, torque was increased by a “whopping” 3 LB-FT from 148 to 151.

Among my obsessions is one for two-seat roadsters. Light cars don’t need excessive amounts of horsepower and torque to push you back in the seat, but give them some real power and you can have some real fun. The Z4 that I drive was rated at 300 HP/300 LB-FT of torque stock. Although the car is nine years old, with all of the modifications—the most significant of which was a Dinan Stage 2 upgrade—I’m guessing the car has about 365-370 HP and 375-380 LB-FT of torque. That’s more power than the 2002 Corvette I used to own. Why haven’t I taken the car to a dyno shop? The reason is, of course, I expect the worst to happen and the engine to blow up if I pushed it on the dyno.

I don’t know enough about the engine architecture of the Miata—or of its companion, the revived Fiat 124 Spider, which has a different engine—to know if a turbo would be a practical factory option. Still, imagine a 250 HP/225 LB-FT engine powering the car. It’s a shame that manufacturing automobiles is virtually the sole domain of large companies, by necessity I might add. Large companies cannot make and implement decisions quickly. It was obvious to me and many others that the new generation Miata was underpowered as originally offered, yet its power boost comes in the fifth model year of production.

I also have a bone to pick with those that the say the MX-5 Miata is the best-selling two-seat sports car in history, including the Guinness Book of World Records. Roughly one million Miatas have been sold, an impressive number. More than 1.7 million Corvettes have been sold, though.

What do you think of the Miata? Do you like two-seat roadsters/sports cars? As always, I would very much like to read your opinions.

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